We started the Autumn Winter ‘12 collection with the word ‘fake’ — when we were researching fabrics we were bouncing the idea of imitation — materials that pretend to be something they are not. Fake fur, vinyl, polyester. But that was just a start. At the same time I was juggling with a friend’s struggle with relationships. Love is a difficult animal for men— women are so much more comfortable with that emotion, whereas guys carry it around as a physical piece of uncertainty. The kid who has a heart full of love was never the coolest guy at high school but he was the one who was always the most creative.

Love and its insecurities became the inspiration for this season’s prints. The collection became something of an emotional collage. We worked with clashes of unexpected combinations, both in silhouettes and materials. There’s a combination of the traditional with the technical. Harris tweeds are contrasted with furniture vinyl. British mohair contrasts with silk and fake fur. The colours are muted and dark, punctuated by optimistic reds, blues and clean white, a bit like the relationship of that high school kid.

(show more)